Method of and apparatus for serving strands



Dec. 13, 1932. F. M. POTTER ET AL 1,891,194

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SERVING STRANDS Filed Oct. 15. 1950 Patented Dec. 13, 1932 warren stares PATENT OFFICE FRANK M. POTTER AND CHARLES E. TRAXEL, OF ROME, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS T GENERAL CABLE CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY Application filed October 15, 1930. Serial No. 488,754.

This invention relates to. a method of and apparatus for serving stranded material to a core, usually to an axially advancing core, so as to form, a continuous covering thereon, and has for an object the provision of improvements in this art.

One of the moving desiderata in the evolution of the present invention was economy in production. This suggested running the machine at higher speeds and as nearly continuously as possible. The required high speeds were not practicable with prior machines because of breakage of the machines and breakage or misapplication of the strand. Frequent stoppage was occasioned for renewing the strand packages. The present invention permits the attainment of very high speeds by reason of the improved means for removing the strand fromthe package and guiding it to the core. These means provide smooth travel for the strand and the nice bal ancing of centrifugal forces, the former preventing breakage or misapplication of the strand and the latter preventing breakage of the machine,

In order to furnish a ready comprehension of the nature-and objects of the invention, an illustrative embodiment of the invention will be described in detail, reference being made throughout the description to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical axial section of apparatus embodying or. operating in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view; and

Figure 3 is a partial vertical section taken on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing, the core 10 to be covered, either bare or having some covering already applied travels upward through and along the axis of a flyer spindle 11. The core may be an electrical conductor and, in fact, the invention has been developed principally in connection with the application of spiral wound insulation to electrical conductors.- The covering may be lap wound, butt wound, or space wound, depending upon the speed of winding relative to the axial speed of travel of the core.

Upon the fiyer spindle there are secured package and strand retaining means. Herein these means are shown as being formed in separate parts, the package retaining means being the arbor 12 and the strand retaining means being the annular wall 13. Both the arbor l2 and the wall 13 are secured to the disc 14 by an annular plate15 and screws 16. The arbor 12 and plate 15 are notched together at 15a. p

The disc 14 is provided. with a hub 17 which is secured to the spindle in any suitable manner. For example, it may. be slitted at a number of places 18 and carry a tapered thread 19. A nut 20 when screwed up on the tapered thread tightens the hub 17 firmly upon the spindle.

The package of stranded material 21 is carriedupon a sleeve 22 which fits upon the arbor 12 with sufiicient friction to cause the package and arbor to rotate together without slippage.

The package is preferably made up with a universal wind so the strand may pull 0E easily toward a fixed position relative to the axial length of the package. The purpose of this is to obtain a substantially constant tension on the strand and to direct the strand along a substantially fixed path toward the core.

Strand material is unwound from the package by the influence of centrifugal force. The flyer carrying the package rotates at high "speed and produces sufiicient force on the ofi-taking strandto' cause a loop thereof to balloon outward. Even when very light material such as thin paper tape (say, in the range of by .0005") is employed the centrifugal action is effective for the desired purpose, the machine being capable of rotating fast enough to achieve this. With such material the machine has been run at 14000 R. P. M. without breaking the light strand or producing any damage to the machine itself. This is believed to be a range of speed never before attained with this class of machines.

The means herein provided for causing the strand to move from a definite axial position as it starts inward toward the core comprises the annular retaining wall 13. It is formed with an annular depression or groove 25 and the surfaces on either side of the groove run gently toward it so as to allow the strand to move easily into the bottom of the groove under the action of centrifugal force. This action is aided by having the strand fed from a universal wound package. A loop tends to drop off the end of the package distant from the groove and work along the surface of the retaining Wall toward the groove. The action is further aided by leading the strand away from the retaining wall in a transverse plane passing through the bottom annular element of the groove, as will presently be described. When the groove is placed near the upper end of the wall 13, as shown, it permits the use of a deep package of material without having the strand drag on the upper edge of the package. This avoids frequent stops for changing the packa e.

By virtue of this construction a given length of the strand loop thrown outward by centrifugal force tends to lie in the annular groove. This length is designated by the letters a, b in Figure 2, the strand itself being designated by the numeral 26. All of the length a, b may not lie in the bottom of the groove 25. The portion a may move up or down axially to some extent. The grove assures that a major part of the length a, b will lie therein and that the portion 7) at least will always have the same axial position. Whatever may be the location of the part a the length a, 6 tends to remain substantially constant. This is desirable because the length a, b has a frictional drag along the retaining wall and limits the amount of strand which is paid out from the package. As the strand is fed inward to the core the dragging length a, I) constantly slips backward along the retaining wall to allow more strand length to be fed 01f the package.

Means are provided for guiding the stran and for tightening it upon the core. If the strand material is relatively heavy like asbestos roving itsown weight may be sufiicient to tighten it upon the core; or rubbing devices may be employed forxthis purpose. But in the case of extremely light material the centrifugal force may not be sufiicient to tighten it upon the core and rubbing devices, however delicate, may injure it.

The means herein employed comprise tension arms 27 having slots 28 in the outer end for guiding the strand inward at the level of the bottom of the groove 25 and a round stem 29 about which the strand is wrapped to secure tension by a snubbing action. This form of tension-guide device is useful for another purpose. It assists in keeping the strand fiat. A light paper strand is easily broken if not kept fiat for if one edge gets more strain than the other it will permit a tear to start. A multi-threaded strand like that illustrated will be improperly applied if not kept flat for the threads will either separate or cross each other.

Two arms 27 are shown. One is used for left hand winding and the other for right hand winding. hen an arm is not used for the strand it provides an accurate centrifugal balance for the arm which is being so employed. Approach guides 30 direct the strand after it leaves the arms and turn it fiat toward the core.

A strand-laying nose 31 guides the strand into proper axial position and lays it flat upon the core.

It has been explained that the loop slips back along the retaining wall, that is, the point 6 rotates about the package as the whole assembly rotates about the spindle axis. For this reason the guide and tension arms 27 must also rotate about the package. To provide for this theyare mounted on a ring 32 rotatable upon and retained by a hollow flanged nipple 33 screwed into a larger flanged bushing 34 which is rigidly secured to the spindle 11 by set screws 35. The ring 32 supports a mushroom head 36 secured to the ring by screws or other suitable means. The head 36 carries the guides 30. It also forms an anchorage for the nose 31. The arms 27, the ring 32, the head 36, the nose 31, and the guides 30 rotate as a singleunit.

Means are provided for placing a frictional drag on the rotation of the ring 32 and for regulating the same. These means comprise a washer 38 carrying tension springs 39 riding on the upper end of the flanged bushing 34. Screws 40 threaded through the ring 32 and contacting the upper face of the washer 38 regulate the tension on the springs. This mechanism prevents the arms from flying about loosely or moving so easily as to permit the strand to be unwound too fast from the package. The drag of the arms supplements the drag of the loop a, b of the strand.

It is desirable that the arms should be movable to permit the replacement of packages on the arbor. Asshown, the arms are adapted to swing upward about the pivot pins 41 within the notches 42 in the ring 32.

The operation and advantages of the apparatus have been explained in connection with the description of the apparatus so it is believed that no summary of the operation is required. It is to be borne in mind that the apparatus described is exemplary merely and that the invention may be variously modified within the scope of the subjoined claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for winding a covering upon a-core, comprising in combination, a rotatable hollow spindle, a core to be covered disposed along the axis of said spindle, a package of stranded material rotatable with said spindle, the package being universal wound so the strand may readily travel axially of the package as it is removed therefrom, a retaining wall surrounding said package and rotatable with the package and spindle, said wall being tapered interiorly toward an annular groove remote from the axis of said spindle and approximately co-planar with one end of the strand package, said package being rotated at suflicient speed to cause a loop of strand to balloon off said package and creep toward the groove in said wall, and means disposed approximately co-axial with said groove for guiding the strand toward said core upon which it is wound.

2. Apparatus for winding a covering upon a core, comprising in combination, a rotatable hollow spindle, a package of stranded material rotatable with said spindle, a core to be covered travelling along the axis of said spindle, and a retaining wall surroundingsaid package and rotatable with the package and spindle, said retaining wall being duo-conical on its interior surface, the bases of the cone surfaces being placed together to form an annular groove in said wall into which a loop of strand material is thrown by centrifugal force.

3. Apparatus for winding a covering upon a core, comprising in combination, a rotatable hollow spindle, a core travelling along the axis of said spindle, a package of strand material rotatable with said spindle, said package and spindle being rotated at sufiicient speed to cause a loop of strand material to balloon off the package, and means to retain said loop and urge it to creep axially of said package to a definite position along said axis.

4:. Apparatus for winding a covering upon a core, comprising in combination, a rotatable hollow spindle, a core travelling along the axis of said spindle, a package of strand material mounted concentrically of said spindle and rotatable therewith, said package and spindle being rotated at sufiicient speed to cause a loop of strand material to balloon off the package, and an annular retaining wall concentric with said package for limiting the outward throw of said loop, said w'all being tapered outward to an annular groove into which said loop tends to creep under the influence of centrifugal force to provide a constant axial plane of departure for the end of the loop which travels to said core.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 in which said groove is located near one end of the retaining wall so as to permit the use of long packages byavoiding drag on the end of the package as the strand travels from ofi the package to the core.

6. The method of'winding a strand of material from a package rotating concentrically about an advancing core, which comprises throwing a loop of strand material outwardly from the package and axially of the same toflyer including an arbor retaining a strand package, a wall also constituting a portion of said flyer for retaining a strand when thrown from the exterior of said package, and guide arms for directing the strand from said wall to the core, said arms being rotatably mounted relative to said spindle and arranged in paired relationship so as to balance each other during rotation of the fiyer.

8. Apparatus for winding a covering upon a core comprising in combination, a rotatable spindle, a core movable along the axis thereof, a package of strand material mounted thereon, means for directing a strand of material taken from said package to a predetermined axial position, and means to guide and apply tension to said strand as it moves toward said core, said means including an arm provided with a'guide slot in its end for di-' supplying tension for retarding the relative rotation tween said guide means and package.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 which further includes in combination, means for adjusting the action of said retarding means.

11. Apparatus for winding 2. covering upon a core, comprising in combination, a rotatable spindle, a core movable along the axis of said spindle, a package of strand material mounted concentrically of said spindle, said spindle and package rotating at sufiicient speed to cause a loop of strand to balloon outwardly from said package, a rotatable retaining wall for limiting the outward throw of said loop, a length of said loop dragging upon said wall to limit the feed-0H of the strand from said package, and means for guiding the free end of said loop to said core, there being relative rotation between said guide means and said package whereby said loop advances circumferentially of said package as the strand feeds out from the package.

12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 11 which further includes in combination, means for limiting the relative rotation between said guide means and package.

13. Apparatus for windin upon a core, comprising in com ination,.a rotatable spindle, a package of strand material mounted concentrically of said spindle, and arms for guiding a strand from said package to a core movable along the axis of said spindle, said arms being hinged adjacent the axis to permit packages to be introduced over the end of said spindle. 4

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification this 13th day of October, 1930.

FRANK M. POTTER. CHARLES E. TRAXEL.

a covering 

